Vegas Trip Report, Hard Rock/MGM, April 13-15

[IWntErinNess]

21 year old first timer trip to Las Vegas this past weekend. Loved just about everything and plan on visiting again, if not moving, very soon!

I took a red eye from Atlanta to Vegas late Thursday night and got into a cab from the airport to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino at about 1am Friday morning. I was surprised at just how fast the taxi ride from the airport to the hotel was, and for that matter, everything around the strip is a $10 cab ride. Very cool. I also got a kick out of my taxi driver, who was essentially a pimp who gave me his card, telling me he had plenty of tight-pu***ed, big-breasted, beautiful, young women available for about $400. Warned me not to go out on my own because I would catch something, but assured me his girls were clean. I tipped the cabbie 3 bucks and checked in at the hotel.

My sister's boyfriend was staying with me the first night and we were both starving so we ate at Mr. Lucky's at the Hard Rock. The food was pretty good. We got the spinach dip appetizer which was delicious and I had the Bleu Cheese Burger which was alright.

We took a cab ride out to the strip, specifically to the Bellagio and I was in awe of the strip. Really blew my mind. Inside of the Bellagio was insane. Loved that glass ceiling at the lobby, and the garden. The casino seemed really nice as well, though we didn't hang around for too long.

We then walked over to Bally's where I proceeded to play about 2 hours of 1/2 NL while my sister's bf just watched. I bought in for $200 and left with $0. Couldn't get much going. First hand of interest I lost on an Axx3x board all in against a short stack on the flop, my AT against his A3. Typical turn card. That took me down to about $120. Lost a few small pots, got down to $75 then called a raise with 8c9c in position. Flop came down 6c 7c Qh. Raiser bet the pot, I moved in for like 50 more and he called 77 and I struck out.

After Bally's, we walked down the east side of the strip passing Paris, Planet Hollywood, etc. until we got to the MGM Grand. We pretty much just peeked in there to see what that was all about and it seemed pretty large/nice. At about 5:30am, we took a cab back to the Hard Rock and got about 5 hours sleep.

Wake up Friday morning at about 11, and try my luck at a little $10 blackjack at the Hard Rock. I had bought in for $60, lost it in about 20 minutes. Sister's bf had bought in for 80 and lost it in about the same time span. He was playing bad, I was getting dealt 16s what seemed like every hand. I bought back in for 100, got on a mini-heater and ran it up to 190, tipped the dealer 5 bucks and threw 50 dollars on the roulette wheel (25 on column 1, 25 on column 3). A column 3 number hit and after a 5 dollar tip to the roulette guy, I was up $45 for the session.

We grabbed another bite to eat at Mr. Lucky's. This time I wasn't as impressed. We got a bowl of clam chowder which was very good. Then we bought an order of chicken fingers which weren't very good at all, and an order of nachos with guacomole and sour cream and chicken and some other stuff in there. They were pretty decent, but not as good as the spinach dip from the night before in my opinion.

At this point it was about 1 in the afteroon, and my sister's flight was getting in at around 2:30, so her bf just headed to the room to wait for her, while I decided to check out the pool. Very nice pool area. Plenty of cocktail waitresses if you want to buy drinks (which I didn't; why pay for them when they will bring them to you for free if you just play the nickel slots!?!?) and lots of good looking ladies in their 20s.

Once my sister arrived, she introduced me to her boss and a few of her other co-workers who all seemed cool. However, she would be busy for much of the weekend because she had to work. The company she works for is responsible for the travelling virus comedy show tour which was kicking off at the HRC that Saturday night. More on that later, but basically I stayed at the HRC because of the free room that my sister's company was paying for.

After the pool, I cleaned up and dabbled back into the HRC casino. I actually won $300 playing a quarter slot when I hit a red 7 and 2 "double pays" for 1200 credits. Now up for the trip, I was feeling much better about things [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Since my sister was busy, her bf and I wanted to check out a couple more casinos so we went into Hooter's and the Tropicana. I wasn't particularly impressed with either one. They had $5 blackjack at the tropicana which I liked the idea of, but I never got around to playing it.

After my sister finished up with what she had to do for work, her boyfriend treated us to dinner at the Top of the World restaurant at the stratosphere. We checked out the rides at the top and enjoyed the night views of the strip while we ate. Total bill for 3 people was $230. The food was really good, but probably a bit overpriced. They split a $60 bottle of wine which I didn't taste as I am not much of a wine drinker. I had the jumbo shrimp and scallops which was good, but probably not worth $40. I also had a bite of my sister's $42 filet which was quite tasty, but again, probably not worth $42. The service at the restaurant was fantastic. Our waiter (his name slips my mind) was very friendly and made great conversation with us without annoying us. He told us a lot about the city and made some recommendations as to where to go on our trip.

After dinner, we took a cab from the stratosphere to the mirage and started walking down the strip just going into and checking out as many of the casinos as we could. We saw the Mirage, where I'm a lifetime winner thanks to my $10 roulette bet. We saw Caesar's Palace which was HUGE. One of the nicer places we saw I thought. Then we also revisited the Bellagio to show my sister. She thought it was awesome too.

From here, we decided to head back to the HRC to have some drinks with Nicole's co-workers, as well as some of the comics that were on the tour. That was a lot of fun and we called it a night at around 4am.

The next morning, we woke up around 8:30 and my sister and I got room service. It was like $42 for breakfast. Very good, but again, not worth $42. If you just head down to Mr. Lucky's, you probably could have spent 25 on the meal. I had the cinnamon roll french toast which was amazing, and my sister had the Belgian waffle which she really liked. Of course, my sister's company was paying for the room service, so the price didn't bother us.

After breakfast, my sister was busy all day, so I headed by myself to the MGM for a day of poker. Played 1-2 NL from about 10:30am to 6:30pm. Ended up about $250. Got all in against a short stack with AA against AK, and then had 33 on a 3JJ board. I slowplayed in a 3 way pot. The turn brought an Ace and a weak player bet $20 into a $30 pot. I quickly made it $65 to go. I got cold-called by the third player, and the original better folded. The river was a blank. Out of position, I checked my weak boat and the other player (who was solid) checked behind with the nut flush. Looking back on it, I can't believe I didn't value bet the river, but the way he cold-called 65 (he was a rock), made me think I might not be good. In any event, he probably would have called 75-100 on the river if I had fired the bet, so I was a little disappointed there.

All in all, had a GREAT time at the MGM. Lots of fun table talking. Lots fewer hands than online for sure, but a lot more fun I thought. Got to meet some really cool people, and the play was average to soft. There were 3-4 good players at the table at any given time, but there were also a couple of complete fish at the table at any given time, so I think being a long term winner would be pretty easy. Got lots of free drinks while I was there... kind of rotated between liquor, beer, water, and yes... hot chocolate with whipped cream (lol). I had signed up for a player's card so I got a 7 or 8 dollar food comp which was a nice bonus I suppose.

I headed back to the Hard Rock for the comedy show that started at 8. Before the show, I tried to play a little roulette, but was denied. More on that in this thread: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...Number=9971163 . That kind of irritated me, but not too much since the show was starting soon anyway.

The show was great. I had all access passes so I got to meet several of the comics and just shoot the breeze with them. Free food and alcohol backstage, too. Seats were pretty cramped as "The Joint" is a pretty small venue. I think it seats like 1,400 people. After the show ended (around 11pm), I was absolutely exhausted and I tried to take a powernap for an hour or two, but overslept both my alarms and ended getting 8 hours sleep. Kind of annoyed with myself, but I was go-go-go the whole time so I guess it just caught up to me. So I missed the late night on Saturday which I regret, but it was still a fantastic trip.

Next time I head out will be with a group of guys and will definitely check out more of the bar/strip club/dance club scene that Vegas has.

Sunday morning, woke up, ate another breakfast at Mr. Lucky's (the breakfast griddle sampler, which was huge and pretty good, though my favorite part was still the cinnamon roll french toast)... and then it was off to the airport to catch my flight back to Atlanta.

I'm still decompressing from the trip... and can't wait to go back! If anyone has any questions from any of the places I visited, I'll happily answer.

[Dominic]

nice! glad you had a great time.

[bazookajoe]

did you meet Jim Norton or Opie and Anthony?

[The Rev]

Next time at Mr. Lucky's, try the Steak and Shrimp for 7.77. It's not on the menu, and kind of a hidden local secret. It's worth every penny.

Nice report.

[IWntErinNess]

definitely need to get that steak&shrimp for 7.77! wow!

i did meet norton and anthony, but not opie. also got to meet (and actually gamble with) ralphie may and robert kelly.

[rurollin]

Opie and Anthony's Traveling Virus Tour in Boston this year will be held outside at a place that holds 19,000 people..

I just seen/met Little Jimmy Norton about 3 weeks ago.. His stand up is a knockout..

I'm sorry you went to Vegas you said..?

[bazookajoe]

nice. What does your sister do for them?

[IWntErinNess]

she works for a company that books their tour. they also represent people like metallica, billy joel, rod stewart, etc.

she's essentially responsible for making sure they are all comfortable (ie... they have a limo to their hotel/venue, are fed properly, their dressing room is the right temperature, and so on and so forth).